Jack
Jacob C. Taverly, more commonly known as "Jack," is a half-spirit who unwillingly serves Death. The only inhabitant of the now-lonely House of Tears, he is called out to harvest souls in his master's stead. Physical Appearance Jack takes on the form of a young man, made pale by decades untouched by the Sun. Like his master, Death, he conceals his entire person in billowing black robes, a veil of the same color covering his face. He is surprisingly short and skinny, and were it not for his robes or the scythe in his hands, he may not be so intimidating. Weapons/Abilities Jack is the wielder of a large, two-handed scythe, in likeness to that used by Death but not nearly as menacing. With a pure black handle with a large spike at either end, it can be used for stabbing as well as wide, broad slashes. Jack's powers also lend themselves to his nature of being a half-spirit. He has inherited the trait of being practically weightless, and often uses this quality to jump high into the air or even fly about on his scythe outside of combat. His robes have also taken on a magical quality of their own—impossibly smooth, Jack can dust anything off of them, including water or even fire, with a mere sweep of his hand. Personality Jack often takes on a Death-like persona in his line of work—cruel, hateful, utterly beyond reasoning and pleading—but his apparent lack of emotion is mostly a guise, that he might meet Death's quotas. In reality, he is a very kind-hearted person, constantly apologizing to those he had to end unfairly and even carrying out their last wishes. He knows friendship is, forever and always, beyond his reach, but he finds some form of comfort in getting those he can to not despise him. Backstory Jacob Taverly was once an ordinary boy, growing up in what was an uncultured small town. With no local wizard, no swordsman's guild, no local government, there was nothing for young boys to strive for except to succeed in school, which Jacob never really cared for. He was determined to draw attention to himself and (Hopefully) become someone far more notable than the boring schoolboy he was. When all he could find in dusty old tomes were dark rituals, he happily set about to work on those, unaware of the consequences of his actions. Of course, his elders didn't approve of his actions, but he shrugged off their warnings, and proceeded—besides, all his peers thought it was the most interesting thing that had happened in this town their whole lives. That is, until his overtly "dark" attitude and habitual necrotic actions attracted the attention of Death. That was when the omens began. A series of whimsical, supernatural events began happening all in a row, all under the veil of night, all without a trace. Bloodstains without a bleeder. Sheep slaughtered, sliced in half, and the murder weapon was nowhere in sight. As the ominous signs continued, people began to drift out of the village, afraid of what was to come. Jacob, always one to keep up his ruse of being far more hardened than he actually was, said he was comfortable staying, and stay he did. Eventually, Jacob and his parents were the only ones left in the town. That was when Death appeared to Jacob. He claimed that Jacob's actions made it evident that he had the desire to become a reaper in his likeness, and he was going to accept the proposal. He gave Jacob his half-spirit form and his scythe, and commanded him to begin harvesting the souls of the living at once—beginning with his own family. Jacob refused and tried to fight Death, but was stricken down in a single agonizing blow. As he lay pleading at Death's feet, Death remarked, "Are you so miserable? Then misery shall be your strength. Now go and do what I asked." Willing to do anything to avoid the torment Death could surely bring to him, Jacob (Now known as Jack, the Reaper of Tears) committed the dark deed, and became one of a few servants of Death. He still resides in his childhood home, now overgrown by and concealed in the neighboring woods. Now a place where miserable spirits congregate before Death determines their final resting place, it is referred to as "The House of Tears" by those who know (Or pretend to know) of it. Jack detests his current state, and always harvests the minumum amount of souls—he is known to frequent war grounds, only killing the living if necessary to meet a quota. Despite how much he dislikes his present existence, however, in a twisted way, Jack got what he wanted—he became someone far more important than he ever could have been in his previous mundane life. Trivia/External Links Trivia Origin Jack, not counting the scrapped Magicman, was the second character I ever made, inspired by a vague dream I once had that referred to a place known as "The House of Tears." It inspired me to make a character named Jack, but most of the things about him were painfully generic—mostly a flat, overly edgy character who I made because I wanted to have a character with a scythe and/or reaper theme. After years of disuse, I revisited Jack, retooling him and merging him with a character by the name of Jacob C. Taverly I made for a school project (I was given a pair of shoes, and my partner and I had to build a character who would wear shoes like that), a child who maintained a much "cooler" exterior in the hopes that the friends he made would make him less lonely. He still may not be as good as some of my other characters—perhaps fundamentally flawed—but at least he's not terrible anymore. Category:Male Category:Team Dean: The One-Man Army